Percussionists and Woodwinds Don't Mix
by FueledByEnvy
Summary: AU. Shouta Kisa had the next four years of his life planned out - his boyfriend was the star quarterback for Marukawa's varsity team; his group of friends ruled over the freshmen class; and he was guaranteed a spot on Homecoming court for the years to come. There were two things standing in his way, however: Marching Band, and the teacher of the subject, Kou Yukina.
1. Chapter 1

**So I've had this idea for awhile, but have been putting it off because I'm already stressed from school and trying to balance two of my other fics, but, oh well! Might as well do one more!**

**Yes, I'll admit - the idea is really weird. And it'll be following more of America's high school then Japan's.**

**Yes, that's right. I'm calling Reading & Writing class _English _in this.**

_**I'm so sorry.**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

* * *

The band room had recently been refurbished, walls painted a blinding white, promethean board up at the front of the room, and fake marble flooring installed in place of the dull, old carpet.

The veterans of band figured this was a good way to begin a new year, with the new batch of freshmen coming to their high school, and with their new teacher.

* * *

Their new teacher was a handsome young upstart, with a head of mussy honey hair, and ears full of piercings from his high school years he found himself unable to part with. He had served only two years of college, taking enough classes to receive all his credits in such a short time, and was currently working on his major when not teaching.

The previous year he had been a guest in Marukawa High's band room, and the students had immediately fallen in love with his outgoing nature and sparkly appearance. He had the ability to play almost every instrument, though he specialized in percussion, and the students could only find this fitting in with his loud demeanor.

The students were used to him, and had grown to love him - perhaps that is why he will be teaching this year's band class of 2014.

* * *

The Freshmen of 2014 gathered together when they heard of a new teacher - unlike the veterans, they had never met young Kou Yukina, and, already nervous about leaving behind the middle school and entering high school, they were slowly but surely scaring themselves.

Shouta Kisa and Ritsu Onodera were two of the soon-to-be ninth graders present, sitting on Chiaki Yoshino's couch, still dressed in their nightwear at 3:30 in the afternoon. His sister had thankfully gone to one of her friend's to give them the house, his mother at work until 7:30.

Chiaki stepped out from the kitchen, vigorously pouring salt over his ramen.

"You're going to give yourself a heart attack." remarked Shouta from the couch, hand itching at his stomach, pulling up the baggy tee-shirt to expose pale, smooth skin.

"Tori can't come over today to cook for me." said the other noirette, sitting the salt shaker on the entertainment center and plopping down on the recliner.

"I could of cooked for you." said Shouta, though did not move from the couch, not even bothering to sit up - though he did kick his foot out, hitting Ritsu in his elbow, effectively scaring away the gray, long-haired cat the brunette had been petting.

"Ano - Mr. Jingles, come back." said Ritsu, rubbing his pointer finger and thumb together, the overweight cat watching with round, yellow eyes.

"Ricchan, what are you doing? You're really quiet." said Shouta, finally sitting up, shirt falling down as he rose.

"Thinking." replied the boy as Mr. Jingles swayed as elegantly as his weight would allow towards Ritsu, fluffy tail swishing behind him.

Shouta's brown eyes blinked at him, though Ritsu paid him no mind, scratching the cat's chin, listening to him purr. "About what?" asked Shouta, scooting closer to his friend on the couch.

Ritsu sighed - ever since he'd left school at the beginning of eighth grade after a nasty break-up with a certain Drum Major upperclassman, Shouta had been especially leery about Ritsu's thoughts and actions, even though he'd returned towards the end of the year. Perhaps he was different, yes - though Ritsu could only justify this with the fact that time changes people.

"About the new teacher Hatori-san told Chiaki about." replied the brunette, sliding off the couch to sit on the floor with Mr. Jingles, picking the cat up and cuddling it into his lap.

Shouta hesitated, shrugging his shoulder as he reached for the remote on the arm of Chiaki's recliner. "I've heard he's nice. That's all we care about, right?" he said, finally able to reach it, wrapping his hand around it and beginning to flip through channels.

"I guess." replied Ritsu, and Chiaki made himself heard through his mouthful of ramen.

"I've heard our English teacher throws books at us! Do you think it's true?!" he waited until he was finished speaking to swallow.

"Isn't the Advanced teacher the same as the regular?" asked Shouta, eyes on the T.V. as he spoke.

Chiaki nodded, "Yeah - he teaches the AP classes, too."

"I don't think he throws books at us. Isn't that, like, illegal?" asked Shouta, finally deciding on _What Not To Wear, _dropping the remote beside him.

Chiaki shrugged, "That's just what Tori told me! Yuu too!"

Shouta grimaced, "What do we read as Freshmen? _To Kill a Mockingbird_? _Romeo & Juliet_? Are those thick books?"

"It doesn't matter - they're all hardback!"

Shouta sank down into the couch, eyes on Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, "Why didn't Ichimura tell me about any of this?..." he muttered, and the other two boys noticeably got quieter - even Ritsu stopped stroking Mr. Jingle's fur, resulting in a nibble to his palm.

_Probably because he was in remedial classes. _thought the two boys, blinking at each other before glancing back at their laps, Chiaki at his bowl of ramen and Ritsu at Mr. Jingles.

Shouta Kisa's boyfriend, Ichimura Adachi, was quarterback of Marukawa's football team - though he was loved by most, he wasn't exactly the brightest, having whatever willing girl he could to do his homework, and all he needed to do was blink for them to agree. Chiaki and Ritsu weren't exactly fond of the eleventh grader on the Varsity football team - Ritsu, though he would never admit this out loud, was scared witless by the six foot boy, who was always hitting on the tinier brunette, whether Shouta was looking or not regardless. Ritsu however would always snap back at whatever comment was thrown his way, of course.

Yoshiyuki Hatori and Ichimura Adachi were not the greatest of friends, and that was a good enough reason for Chiaki Yoshino not to like him.

Though, for the sake of their friend's happiness, they kept their mouths shut, only speaking of the asshole in private.

Ritsu was the only to break the silence, "So - about band. How do you think band camp will go?"

"Tori said your first year's always the worst." said Chiaki.

"First year? You mean _I have to do this every year?" _asked Shouta, turning to Chiaki, who nodded in response. "I can't do that. Have you seen that uniform? That _hat-"_

"It's called a shako."

"-looks _awful. _And before you say it, Ricchan - I can see you opening your mouth! - I am not being picky! I'm not letting Ichimura see me in that. I just won't march in the football games."

Chiaki blinked, "But - that's your grade."

"It's _band class. _How hard could it be to bring your grade back up?"

The other two boys shrugged, figuring his point wasn't actually all that bad.

"Besides," began Shouta once more, "I'm already giving up a week of my Summer to go to band camp, _twelve hours every day of my life for five days. _Isn't that enough?"

Little did the three boys know, that week would probably be the most interesting one of their careers of high school students.

And, for one of them, the beginning of a very strange relationship.

* * *

**I actually don't hate this! But it is pretty short, and not a lot happens...**

**So, yeah! Can anybody guess which instruments they're all gonna play?! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait, everyone! D:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

* * *

Swollen brown eyes stared the window to his mother's truck as they drove up, into the high school's parking lot, his clarinet case resting in his lap. His mother, dressed in her work scrubs, brought the car to a halt, curly black hair falling into her green eyes - she brushed her bangs behind her ear, and Shouta knew she would be putting her hair up before she made it to the E.R. she worked at.

"Have fun at band camp, nerd." she said, glancing over at her son, waiting for him to get out so she could leave for work - she was already late.

Shouta smiled and shrugged his shoulders in response, "You could always take me back home."

"Nice try." she said.

"It was worth a shot." joked Shouta, opening the door and jumping out - he winced, a pain going up his backside; he had just gotten comfortable in the leather seat of the truck, still trying to recover from his last _'sleepover' _at Ichimura's. "Bye, mom. Have fun at work."

"Oh, I'm sure I will. Bye, loser."

She glanced at the boy, who had yet to close the door.

"Shouta?"

Her son suddenly turned back to his mother, brown eyes glazed over with tears.

_"Mom!" _he cried out, case swaying in his hands as he clasped his palms together, _"Please don't leave me here in Band Hell! I love you!"_

She hesitated, then snickered; which eventually turned into chuckles, "I love you too, Shouta." she said this nonchalantly, "But you're stuck here. Now go, you're gonna be late."

He sniffled, though his mother paid no mind; she knew how good of an actor her son was, and, a moment, later, his tears were gone.

"You're a jerk." he said, closing the door, and his mother shrugged as she drove off.

He bit his lip as he watched her leave, turning on his heel; he placed an experimental step forward, fluffy moccasins cushioning his footing, though he still felt that shocking pain travel up his whole entire body, and he grimaced. How was he going to go all day like this?

_I'm not, _he told himself, before steeling, taking slow, steady steps forward, until he'd reached the glass doors to the high school. He hauled them open, stepping in and turning to his left; he knew his way around this school from Ichimura. He passed the front office, which was empty, lights turned off, and pushed open wooden doors into the Commons - the cafeteria. He glanced around, assuming this was where he would spend of a majority of the next four years of his life, before crossing the floor, to the other pair of wooden doors. Opening those, he was greeted by lockers; down the hallway, he could hear the echoing of instruments and voices, and had only one thought:

_Kill me now._

He walked down to a door, held open by a music stand, and took a deep breath - he retreated his hand into the furry sleeve of Ichimura's football sweatshirt, before grabbing onto the handle and opening it into his Hell.

It was chaos.

The refurbishing of the room had left it in disorder: boxes stashed full of lyers, shakos, and other band-items littered the flooring, which, Shouta had to admit, actually looked nice. No chairs or stands were set up yet, considering the room still needed to be put back into order, aside from the keyboards that were to the left of the doorway, where a clarinetist and saxophonist sat, laughing at all the others who didn't have chairs.

Shouta had been wrong. _This, _this room right here, would be where a majority of his next four years were spent.

He pulled his phone from the pocket of Ichimura's sweatshirt, clicking on it - _7:57. _He had three minutes to get ready.

He sighed, sitting his case down on one of the keyboards and opening it up - it was at this moment that the boy was tackled by a certain alto saxophonist, and the noirette teetered on his feet before regaining his balance.

"Shouta!" cried Chiaki, "I thought you weren't coming!"

Shouta brushed him off, grabbing a reed from his case - it was from last year, and he knew he'd be flat when he began playing, "Mom woke up late. Where's Ricchan?"

"Staying as far away from Masamune as possible."

Shouta hesitated at that, looking over at his friend, who had his neck-strap dangling off him, "What?" asked the boy, placing his reed into his mouth, "Why is he here?"

Chiaki motioned back towards a towered noirette in the back, who was gathered with several others, drumsticks held in his hands, "He's a percussionist. He's our Drum Major, too, I heard."

Shouta nodded, beginning to put his clarinet together, "Who are the other Drum Majors? Do you know?"

Chiaki nodded, "You have Masamune, for one. And Tori's a Drum Major, too," Chiaki smiled at the mention of his friend, and then gave a shrug, "I'm not sure about the third one - I think it's - ugh, what's his name? He's my section leader, too... He plays bari saxophone for concert band, and alto for marching? Umm..."

"I think I know who you're talking about-"

He was not able to say the name of the saxophone's Section Leader, of the third Drum Major's - the classroom was called to silence by a first chair flutist, with a loud, echoing, _'HEY!'._

The door to the office aside the new prometheon board opened, and out walked the fourth new addition to the Band room. He stood at a towering six feet, three inches, raggedy-looking Converse covering his nine-and-a-half sized feet, sliding across the new marble floor. Light brown hair was tied back into a short ponytail, bangs pushed behind pierced ears, four little steel hoops on his left and one stud in his right.

Shouta hadn't realized his mouth was hanging open until his reed came tumbling out of his mouth and onto the floor - he muttered a cuss under his breath, bending down and picking it up, chucking it into the trashcan beside the door. He needed a new reed, anyway.

"Who is _that?" _Shouta asked, leaning into Chiaki to whisper his question.

The saxophonist smiled, whispering back, "Our new teacher. Kou Yukina."

Shouta simply nodded his head, not replying. _He has to be the most attractive person I've ever seen._

"Alright!" said Mr. Kou Yukina, clapping his hands together to draw the attention from those who hadn't paid mind to the flutist. He gave a bright smile, an infectious smile, a _dazzling _smile, "For those of you who don't know me, I'm your new teacher, Kou Yukina. I also teach at the middle school during the morning, so, once school starts, I won't be here till after third hour."

As he spoke, he walked across the room, all eyes following his body. He grabbed a stool from the corner of the room, by the keyboards, and pulled it back to the front of the room.

"Most of you have seen me from last year, but, so you all know - I won't be available after school, either." As he perched his broad body atop the stool, there was a inquiry of, _'Why?' _and Kou flashed that sparkling smile once again.

"I'm working on my major, right now."

There were some mutters, though, aside from that, no other questions were announced.

"Nothing else? Well, then, alright. I told you all that for a reason - I'm not open to tutor any of you at this moment, so, instead, I have two that are going to help out."

He nodded his chin to the keyboards, and all eyes turned to the girl who stood up from her chair.

"Hey, everyone!" she greeted, her voice much too cheery and high-pitched for so early in the morning, "I'm Remi Senbo, eighth chair clarinet!"

She sounded so absolutely _proud _of the fact she'd been eighth chair.

Shouta stared at the girl, and it clicked as to how he knew her - she was the girl who tutored the clarinets when she was in middle school, and she'd been a close-enough friend to Shouta and his group. He could barely recognize her, with no make-up present, her brown hair thrown up in a half-assed ponytail.

"Yeah, yeah - I know eighth chair isn't exactly tutor-worthy, but I got that chair on _purpose, _I swear! Let's face it: high notes _suck! _Anyway - I'm a sophomore, so most of you freshmen know me! Freshmen - raise your hands!" she ordered, and hesitant hands were stuck up in the hair.

"Hey - where's Chiaki Yoshino?" The boy beside Shouta flailed his arms in the air, and Remi's brown eyes flitted to him.

"Chiaki! How come you're not a trumpet anymore?!" she asked.

"There are enough trumpets!" responded Chiaki, smiling at her, "We needed another alto saxophone!"

She waved her hand at him nonchalantly, turning back to the other members of band, "My Little Clarinets!" she addressed, "Raise your hands!"

Freshmen clarinetists raised their hands, all comfortable with the loud girl, and she smiled at each and every one of them in turn.

"Alright - I'll be your guys' tutor, so come see Remi if you ever have any issues with your music! I'm not actually marching, though - I'll give you all my number, so you can call me! I'll be in and out of Band Camp, but, when school starts, I'll be watching you guys. _This is more of a free hour for me, though." _she added that part under her breath, the saxophonist beside her clapping his hands and laughing, "Same goes for the other tutor - he'll be in-charge of brass, while I've got the woodwinds!"

"What about percussion?" asked someone, and she simply pointed in the general direction of the question and laughed.

_"Nobody cares!" _she taunted, and the classroom laughed, the boy beside her the loudest.

Once that had calmed down, Kou smiled at her, speaking up, "Where's Takafumi?" he asked, and Remi shrugged her shoulders.

"He hasn't called me!" she said, and suddenly a hand shot up, coming from a brunette boy in the back, saxophone swaying around his neck.

_"Oh!" _said the boy, _"I'll call him!"_

Kou smiled, nodding from his seat, "Go ahead, Zen." he said, and the boy nodded, racing out of the room with his phone already pressed to his ear, saxophone still hanging around his neck.

Chiaki's hand flied out, swatting Shouta in his shoulder, _"That's our other Drum Major!" _he exclaimed, _"Zen Kirishima! _Ugh, I couldn't remember his name!"

Kou glanced to the two freshmen and flashed them a smile, one that brought heat to Shouta's cheeks, "You're right." he said, "That's Zen, Drum Major for the third production. Saxophones' Section Leader, too."

_"Who are the other Drum Majors?" _asked someone, and Kou turned back to his class.

"Masamune Takano, for the first production. Percussion Section Leader. And then there's Yoshiyuki Hatori, for the second. Trumpet Section Leader." he replied with, and a groan was heard from somewhere among the room at Masamune's name.

They all knew where it had come from, and it was from the only other flutist in the room, aside from the blonde girl.

Ritsu Onodera did not seem to care that all eyes had gone to him - he stood, with his flute hugged against his chest, glaring at the percussionist that was giving him a questioning look, one that said, _'Are you dying? Are you okay? Lol never mind I don't even care.'_

The other members of the percussion section glared back at the flutist, who stood, unfazed, only stopping when he was pulled away from the percussionists by the first chair trumpeter.

"Alright - before a war gets started between us," said Kou, and the saxophonist in the back by the keyboards snickered.

_"Aww, that's already been started."_

"-Let's all head outside."

Shouta hesitated at that, finishing getting his clarinet together - _he still needed a reed! _He cussed once again, Chiaki going to fetch his saxophone. The clarinetist and the flutist met up together, Shouta adjusting his ligature, as he spoke.

"Hey," he mumbled, "just how old do you think Yukina is? He looks, like, _young-"_

A hand clapped down on Shouta's shoulder, and he gasped, jumping, almost dropping his clarinet to the floor.

"Don't even go there, Little Clarinet!" said Remi, smiling at the noirette in beside her - the saxophonist, one the freshmen recognized as Jouji, was following closely after her, "Kou's off-limits. He's twenty, by the way. "

She flashed a wink at her 'Little Clarinet'. "He finished college two years early. He's really good at snare. But, it's not like that matters!"

She jogged ahead, catching the door before it could close on them, holding it open.

"There's one simple rule to Band, Shouta - you listen, too, Ricchan! - and this goes for all your four years here." she waited until the other three had walked through the doorway before she continued speaking.

"Here's part one of the rule: One, woodwinds are _always _better than the brass." she smiled, though she didn't seem to be joking about this 'fact', "And, two, woodwinds _do not _get along with the percussion."

Ritsu hesitated, grimacing at the back of the black-haired Drum Major, walking ahead of them. His green eyes narrowed, glaring, attempting to burn holes into those broad shoulder blades.

_"You don't have to tell me twice." _he said, and the woodwinds' tutor smiled, closing the band door behind them.

* * *

**And now time for me to get ready for rehearsal! :D**

**SaySaeri: You got Chiaki partially right! :D**

**wolf princess julie: You got Shouta right! :3 I'm only a sophomore, so I don't have to deal with that yet! xD My books were hardback! D: Maybe my school's too immature for paperback.. xD **


	3. Chapter 3

**Uwah, sorry for the long wait everyone! D: Stuff has been hectic lately, though, once Christmas is over, I promise everything will be back to normal! :D  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

* * *

Remi Senbo was up atop the wooden podium that overlooked the practice field, leaning over the railing beside her teacher.

"Come on, Jouji!" she called encouragingly down at the students jogging round the fence encircling the field, "Run faster!"

Jouji flipped the girl off, and she laughed loudly, only pulling away from her humor when she heard a car door slam shut.

From down below, Shouta panted from beside Chiaki, Ritsu, and another Freshman clarinet who was not fond of the idea of running.

"This is Hell," said Shouta, "I though Yoshiyuki said Yukina was nice?..."

"He is nice." replied Chiaki, "This is supposed to help with your breathing. So you get used to the idea of moving while your playing, running out of breath."

"Well," said Shouta, "I'm not marching, anyway."

Chiaki chuckled, walking beside his friends, glancing away when he heard his Section Leader yelling.

Zen Kirishima leaned against the door of a sleek black truck, face pressed against the window.

"Yoko!" cried the boy, "Why were you late!"

The noirette from inside the car attempted opening his door, trying to shove Zen out his way, "Get off the door!" he ordered, not replying to his question, "Seriously! I can't get out!"

At that, Remi cheered, hopping down the steps of the wooden podium, almost missing the bottom one; she walked, jumping the guard rail and into the school's parking lot, passing jogging members of band to the truck.

"Takafumi!" she called, waving her hand at him, and the boy inside his vehicle still groaned.

From the fence, there was a laugh, Kou sliding in-between the guard-rail and the fence to walk over to the truck, "Come on, guys, let Takafumi out!" he said; Remi and Zen both slowly obeyed.

As their attention was distracted by Takafumi, the group that was slowly walking their laps sneaked over the railing, into the practice field, faking their four laps over on their second.

A noirette opened the door of the truck, sliding out and hitting the pavement, a trumpet case in his hands; he slammed the door shut behind him, and was tackled by Zen, the case hitting the door of the truck with a clack.

Remi suddenly hugged the boy as well, "Takafumi, I thought I was gonna be the only tutor today, you had me so scared!"

"Will you both let go of me?!" snapped the noirette, attempting to shake them both away, batting them off with his trumpet case.

Remi and Zen both opened their mouths to object the tutor with their whines when yelling drew their attention; all heads swiveled, including their teachers, to the percussions' section leader, standing underneath the tree by the podium.

_"Who the hell asked your opinion?!" _snapped the brunette flutist, gripping the prized possession in his hands, a leave stuck in-between the keys.

Masamune Takano had made the remark that the group had not ran their assigned four laps - the other Drum Major who was present had also took note of this, though had decided to let them go this one day considering Chiaki was apart of the walkers, with the idea of giving them to run from now on. Chiaki had sweat-dropped at the comment, the female clarinetist completely ignoring the Drum Major aside from going to talk about him to the other Little Clarinets, while Jouji prickled, looking as if he was about to throw down the saxophone he was about to hook up to his neck strap. Ritsu, on the other hand, had caused a scene, Shouta close behind him, holding his clarinet as if a bat.

"Well, I am Drum Major." said the percussionist with a superior look in his hazel eyes; his snare drum sat at his feet, drum sticks atop it, though he did not appear to have any thought to put it on soon, "it's my job to make sure you do what you're supposed too."

"I would rather walk out in traffic then listen to you!" snapped Ritsu, and Masamune glanced at the boy straight in his eye.

"Be my guest." he said, outstretching his hand and pointing to the street in front of the practice field, the fence the only thing separating the students from the pavement beyond.

Ritsu gritted his teeth, preparing a comeback, when a blonde-girl stepped forth, wavy hair in a tight ponytail, turquoise eyes wide in concern.

"Takano-san, that's enough, I think." she said, and he glanced at her, folding his arms over his chest.

"But, Ana-chan-"

_"Band, ten hut!"_

All around Shouta, the band assumed the posture of attention at the order; backs became straight out of instinct, instruments were held perpendicular to the ground in front of torsos, shoulders back and chin held high. The blonde girl, without her instrument in hand, assumed the position all the same, hands clasped in front of her and elbows pointed outward slight, never tucking in; Masamune did the same, hands at his waist, as if he held the drum sticks.

All Shouta did was look around in confusion.

Kou was walking across the field, Remi, Takafumi, and Zen following behind their teacher. As they approached, Kou called out another order - _"Band, relax." _- and shoulders relaxed, backs slouching, instruments hanging limply at their sides, and a collective held breath went out of the band.

"I thought I said no wars?" said Kou, his mouth a joking smirk at his class.

Ritsu let out a, _'Hmph!' _underneath his breath, picking the leaf off from his flute, though did not speak up.

"I think it's best to separate everyone." said Remi with a smile, folding her arms, resting her hand in the cradle of her elbow, her other hand holding her cheek.

"Hmm, you're probably right." said Kou, and Remi chuckled, as if the two had just shared an inside joke - Shouta was surprised at the bite of jealousy he felt, "Alright, band! Get in your concert lines!"

Shouta hesitated, looking around again, _What the hell is that? _He caught the clarinet that had walked with them by her arm and pulled her towards him, questioning what they were doing.

"Concert lines." she said, "We learned them in Freshmen Camp."

_What the fuck is that._

He let go of her arm and nodded his head, suddenly remembering what she was talking about; he did not go to Freshmen Camp, he was with Ichimaru that day, and had remarked how they were already getting a week out of his Summer, they did not need two more days added to that.

As the others got in arcs surrounding the small metal podium, saxophones, clarinets, flutes in the first row, brass in the second and percussion behind them, Shouta started on making his way in-between Jouji and that girl, when someone called for him.

"Shouta!"

He flinched, and turned towards the tall wooden podium, where Remi stood on the bottom step, facing him, Takafumi and Kou looking down at her from above.

"You weren't here for Freshmen Camp, were you, Little Clarinet? Well, come with Mama Clarinet! I'll show you what they taught there!" she exclaimed, stepping off the podium and heading over towards him.

_I hope she doesn't expect me to call her Mama Clarinet._

"Here, let me see your clarinet. I didn't bring mine out, I though I wouldn't need him."

_Him? _Did she just call her clarinet a _him?_

He nodded, walking over to the tree with her, handing her his clarinet.

"Ahh - You don't have a reed! We'll get you one during lunch." she assured, and, behind them, Zen called the band to attention from atop the steel podium.

"Alright, did you hear him just now? Either Yukina or one of the Drum Majors will call us to attention - no matter what you're doing, if you hear them call you attention, you stop what you're doing and do it, okay! Alright ~ you heard Yukina, he'll go, _'Band, ten hut!' _and you go to attention, which is - just like this!" she assumed attention, looking down her nose at him. "But you don't talk, okay? Here, you try." she handed him his clarinet back, to which he took, and, with no warning, she ordered, _"Band, ten hut!"_

He rushed to the position, and she smiled at him, "Okay, relax." she said, and he did, "Don't worry, you'll become a natural at it, soon enough. It'll start becoming an instinct thing. Now, for horns up! It's really easy. If we're not on the field, someone will just say, _'Band, horns up!' _and you flick your horn up! Just don't hit yourself in the face. Make sure your mouthpiece is at your lips. If we're on the field, the Drum Major will just go, _'Dut, dut, and up!' _or sometimes he might not even say anything, just conduct, and you'll know what to do. Practice both - _Band, ten hut!"_

They practiced both, and Remi smiled in encouragement at him, telling him horns down, and, once on field, how they'd just flick their horns down at the end of a song, though that seemed a long time from now - _on the field. _Besides, Shouta would not be taking part in any halftime shows.

"Okay - you've got that down." she said, working his clarinet out of his hands. "There's another one - when you're at attention, Yukina might call out, _'Band, parade rest!' _and you go, _'Shh!'_." She moved quickly, clarinet held in her left hand against her hip, parallel to the ground, while her right hand curled into a fist at her hip, elbow slightly bent. "This one's easy, but we don't use it a lot. Here."

She handed his clarinet back, calling him to attention - by now, the band was already tuning, though it's not as if that would be much interest to him, with no reed. _"Band, parade rest!"_

He hissed out, _"Shh!" _and placed his clarinet to his hip in his left hand as she'd shown; she smiled once again, looking up at him, Mama Clarinet and Little Clarinet.

"You're a natural." she said, and he took this as an insult.

* * *

The morning had been a boring time, learning how to march, though no drill sheets were passed out - their was a rumor, started by Remi, that this would be happening after sectionals, however. As lunch started, they all filed into the band room with sore muscles already, and this just proved that this would indeed be a long week. Shouta sat his clarinet down in Remi's and Jouji's shared cubby at Mama Clarinet's invitation as the girl fetched - _stole _- reeds from Yukina's office, coming back with a handful of threes and three-and-a-halves.

"What do you play, Little Clarinet?" she asked him, and he shrugged, so she gave him one of each, unzipping her clarinet's pink case and dumping the rest in there.

"This is Alejandro!" she greeted, "He's been my clarinet since fifth grade." she zipped him back up, sitting him down in the cubby.

Shouta however did not get a chance to reply - someone called her name, and she hesitated, glancing over her shoulder, where Masamune stood with Takafumi.

"We're heading out to eat. Wanna come with us?" asked the Drum Major, and her brown eyes flicked over his shoulder, as if expecting someone else to be there.

"Who else is coming?" she asked.

"Zen, if he wants too." replied the percussionist, and she nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Yeah, okay!" she replied, shutting the door to her cubby, saying a goodbye to Alejandro.

Shouta hesitated, lowering his voice to her, "I thought you said percussionists and woodwinds don't get along, Remi?" he said.

She gave him a look, almost serious, before clapping her hand down on his shoulder, "Well, we do if the percussionist is buying the woodwind lunch." she said, before waving a goodbye to him, joining Takafumi and Masamune.

Shouta stayed, wondering if, perhaps, there were other exceptions for this rule as well.

* * *

Remi climbed into the backseat of Takafumi's truck, her thighs, exposed by plaid shorts, sticking to the leather. They could not find Zen and decided to leave without him - they figured him to be helping Yukina, and did not want to waste their lunch period waiting for him.

Masamune was driving, Takafumi in the passenger seat - she scooted over in the middle so she could see both boys before she spoke.

_"So, Masamune." _she began, and he glanced at her out of the rearview mirror, "Ritsu really seems to hate you, huh?"

He rolled his eyes, turning back to the road, "He's just being immature about this. It wasn't even that bad of a break-up-"

_"That's not what I heard." _taunted Remi from the back, though she continued before Masamune could question her on this, "Besides, he's just a freshman. Shouldn't you be just a little easy on him?"

"You're just a sophomore. What're we even doing, talking to you?" Masamune scoffed.

"That's true." said Takafumi from beside him, "We are older than her. She shouldn't be giving us advice."

_"You're just a grade ahead of me!" _she snapped, _"Just a grade! One grade! You act like I should be calling you guys Senpai!"_

"You should."

"Hmm, yeah, you should. What's that word - Kouhai."

_"God, I hate you guys! This is why woodwinds don't get along with anyone else beside our own section, because all the others are assholes!"_

* * *

Ichimura ended up picking Shouta up for lunch, leaving Ritsu to eat out with Yoshiyuki and Chiaki. By the time everyone returned, lunchtime was nearing a end, almost time for sectionals.

Shouta had yet to figure out what the hell that was.

Remi returned with a McDonalds cup of iced tea - Jouji whined at her for leaving, though she ignored him, waltzing over to their cubby and handing Shouta his clarinet. "Do you know what sectionals are?" she asked him, taking a drink, and he shook his head.

She smiled, and waved one arm in the air, raising her voice, "Little Clarinets!" she called, and the eyes of the freshmen clarinets' turned to her, "Over here!"

They all gathered around her, and she smiled to all of them before she began talking, "Sectionals is where all the sections get together with their own teacher that specializes in that section. So we'll be with the saxophones and flutes, brass will be alone, percussion will be alone, and Color Guard will be alone, so we're all separated. It'll be easier for us to learn the music when we can just focus on our own section." she took a drink before turning back to her cubby, searching for something, when one of her clarinets spoke up.

"When will we get our music?"

"Oh, you should be getting it during sectionals. I've heard the theme this year is Disney, though that might just be a rumor, I'm not sure. I hope not, it'll be a whole lot better than last year's theme." she said, smiling at them.

"Do you know who are sectionals teacher is?"

"Oh, some friends from Yukina's college, I'm sure. I don't really know who they are, though. Whoever they are, I suggest you be nice to them. They chose if you get to sit down or stand during sectionals, and, trust, by Wednesday that'll seem like an even bigger deal than it already is." she laughed, taking another drink, before turning away from her cubby, facing all of them, "Alright, Little Clarinets, how about you all head to the mechanics classroom? That's where our sectionals is."

They all gave confused looks, while Shouta walked off; after a moment, the girls scurried after him. He knew that classroom. He and Ichimura had once made out in there, after school.

However, once in the doorway, he halted; the others however ran into him, forcing him to stumble into the room, his new three-and-a-half reed catching his shirt and already chipping.

"Little Clarinets, you all okay?! Be careful, this cement flooring's gonna hurt!" Behind them, Remi walked in, cup still held in her hands; she sighed at Shouta's chipped reed, and made a note to give him one of hers.

"Remi, is that are sectional leader?..."

She hesitated at the whispers around her, and followed their gaze to a brunette who was sitting in the middle of the room, a table pulled up just for his use, paper scattered over it, folder open beside the paper; he seemed to be looking over the music.

Remi hesitated, blinking, and remarked, "No way, he looks way too young."

Her eye caught on the flutes' section leader; she waved the blonde over.

"Ana, is that our sectionals teacher?" she asked, lowering her voice to the girl, "Or did he, like, come late?"

Ana shook her head, glancing over her shoulder at him, "No, that's him, alright. I know he looks young, but he's a freshmen in college. I heard Mr. Miyagi recommended him."

"You're kidding me. As in, Algebra teacher Miyagi? The one that lied on final exams and said I passed?"

"Yup."

"You're serious! Holy crap. This guy better be good, if Miyagi recommended him. Miyagi doesn't seem like the type of teacher to get involved with Band! Who're the other sectional leaders, do you know?"

"You have Advanced English this year, again, don't you?"

Remi hesitated, raising her eyebrows, "What? Yeah, of course I do, why?"

"So you have Mr. Usami?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Mr. Yukina told me one of his friends is here, too, to coach the Color Guard. Eri Aikawa, I think he said her name was."

Remi frowned, glancing over Ana's shoulder at the boy, "Hmm," she said, out loud to herself, before turning back to the flutist, "I don't like this, teachers getting involved with other subjects. Next thing you know, Kamijou's gonna be coaching percussion, throwing books at them."

"Hey, they might listen, then. They don't take Saeki seriously."

"Aww, she's in-charge of percussion, again? Poor girl. Rio back for brass?"

"Yup."

"Pray for them both." Remi said, and the two girls laughed - a veteran joke that the freshmen had no part in, aside to be onlookers, waiting for this to be them by the next year.

Remi sighed, taking a drink from her tea, before turning back to her Little Clarinets, "Well, guys," she said, "I suggest you all go back and get music stands, and meet us back here for your first day of sectionals."

At her suggestions, which they all knew was, in reality, a order, they dispersed, leaving their clarinets on chairs for the band room to fetch music stands.

Remi watched them go, before turning back to Ana. "Remember when we first got here, last year? How excited we were, even if this all kind of sucked?" she questioned, and the blonde hesitated, nodding.

Remi chuckled, taking the lid off her cup in an attempt to fish out ice, "Hmm, I hope they all realize that it only gets worse from here on out."

* * *

**Once again, sorry for the long wait! D: **

**Also: I just imagine Miyagi as a Math teacher. I don't know why.**

**SaySaeri: Haha, not _always. _xD**

**morningnight: Haha, thanks! :3 It's still an all out battle at my school. xD**


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